He was my Mother’s Brother After all

“With each passing day, I see more closely how fragile men are, how inconstant, insecure and surprising they are. A few of my girlfriends’ fathers have propositioned me, but I have always refused. At first, I was shocked but now I think it’s just the way men are” quotes Paulo Coelho from the diary of his character Maria, a prostitute, in his book 11 minutes.

It was their second date. The first ended with just a few kisses and hugs but he was not content with that and needed more time with her. This time, he was prepared to do what almost all men want from this kind of relationship.

Men want one thing from a women and it’s not love

He was not only mentally prepared for it, but he was also done with other preparations, including a condom in his pocket. This young girl was the second child to her parents, however they separated when her father decided to remarry. At this time, it was revealed that her father was married already, before marrying her mother. Hence, this was going to be his third marriage. After separation, her mother married a man and became his second wife.

The girl now lived at her maternal grandfather’s place along with her mother, while her step-father visited them once a week. On the other hand, biological paternal grand-father of the girl was hospitalized. Her mother used to visit her sick ex-father-in-law twice a week. Even after all the injustice her ex-husband had done to them, she went with a warm heart filled with care and respect, accompanied by her elder sister. The lady kept these visits a secret from her own family, as they would not let her visit the old man.

This situation left the girl home-alone on one day, and this day was planned to be the day for their second date. Dimmed lights in the room, mid-day of hot summers, they were both wrapped in a thin cloth having a silly conversation full of affection. The girl trusting this person with all her heart, enjoyed the cold breeze coming from the air conditioner.

She rested her head on his arm, perceiving it as a shield to protect her from every evil and harm that exists. The next day, the boy had to move to the other city for his education. He could not think of anything else except to ruin her beautifully delicate body. She could see a ray of hope in front of her eyes, which could lead her to light out of her dark world, while he was looking for a chance to fulfil his desires. She had her whole world in her arms, while he was all prepared for another hunt.

All of a sudden, her melodious voice got silenced, her eyes blank, the smile disappeared, she seemed to be gone deep into her thoughts, that smile full of excitement faded away. The boy had no wish to ask why, he only wished to touch some more of her silk like skin.

He was about to bring out the despoiler that existed inside him, when she uttered a sentence looking deep into his eyes, ‘My love! I don’t trust any man on earth except you and my father’. This stopped his evil thoughts for a moment, as he finally bothered to ask, ‘Why so?’ The innocent angel spoke, ‘I want to tell you something because I have given myself into your protection, since my father abandoned us you are the only person I can trust and rely upon’. He said, ‘Go ahead, I am listening’.

She sat straight, inhaled a deep breath and as she exhaled, the boy could hear her breath flutter, she held his hands into hers and said, ‘There is something that I haven’t shared with anybody except my mother, but I want you to know it because I want you to know how special you are to me that I trusted you enough, to meet you in person after our long telephonic relationship, to let you near me, to let you touch my skin and to hand you over my soul’.

The boy had a cold blank look on his face, as it was the most unexpected thing for him to happen, when he was ready with condom in his pocket. She continued, ‘The first child of my youngest maternal uncle, my cousin, it was his birth celebration upstairs. I was seventeen and it was the first day of my menstruation cycle so, I was resting downstairs right here on this bed, my eyes closed to relax and overcome the abdominal pain. I could hear somebody walking into this room, as I opened my eyes it was my uncle.

In the blink of an eye, he came closer to the other side of the bed, right where you are sitting, he lied down here, with me’. Her voice trembling, she continued,’ I feared him as he started playing with my hair, I couldn’t ask him why he was looking at me that way? My vocals weren’t responding, I wanted to move but my body had become stiff out of fear. As his hands moved every inch on my skin, it was getting harder for me to breath’. I wished it to be a nightmare, after all ‘he was my mother’s brother’.

The boy knew what it was leading to, he did not want to listen to her anymore. He could think of his desire of fulfillment fading away, as she continued further, “He placed his leg over mine and hushed me when I said ‘uncle this isn’t right’.

He started touching all over my body. It made me cringe and bad shivers were running down my spine. Soon enough, when he placed his hands between my legs, he felt the blood and pulled his hand back quickly, as he understood what it was. He cleaned his hands on my shirt and left. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours, it was an endless shock, I could feel my tears going down my throat, I could neither cry nor move my eyes, I stared at the ceiling for as long as I remember”. Her tears started rolling down her cheeks and the boy could not caress her as he just realized something terrible.

He left her hands, got up and paced the room as he could not make an eye contact with her. He was guilty, unable to see into her eyes or hug her tight. He remembered all the times he had done wrong to other girls, all the times he used them, all the times their bodies got stiff, all the times they got silenced and could not even shed tears because of what he did to them.

He visualized how he had become the ‘one evil person’ of their lives, the unforgettable past of such untouched innocents. It reminded him of the sins he committed just to fulfill his desires. He thought it ended here, but he was wrong the girl had something else to tell him too, “Our mother raised us strong, in a friendly and approachable environment.’’ She continued, ‘’She always told us to share our grief and sorrows with her.

So that’s what I did. I went to her and told her everything that uncle did, told her that he tried to touch me”. With her voice shivering and lips trembling, she was silent for a few minutes and then she asked him to never discuss it with anyone, as it was her biggest secret. He finally got the courage to hug her with warmth but with heavy burdening sorrows in his heart, he kissed her on the forehead, as he left saying “Father must be back. I need to go”. It perhaps changed his life.

Author is founder Jaamiah.com — Pakistan’s Smartest Education Portal, Cyberbullying Activist and Science Journalist.